Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
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Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

www.hrsdc.gc.ca

Essential Skills Research Project

In 1994, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada launched a national research study, the Essential Skills Research Project (ESRP), to examine how the Essential Skills were used in various jobs. More than 3,000 interviews were conducted across Canada with people working in some 180 occupations. The workers interviewed were identified by their employers as performing their job in a fully satisfactory manner.  

Background

  • Earlier work in Canada, the United States, Australia and Great Britain identified a set of skills that were used in virtually all occupations. We call these "Essential Skills".
  • One such skill list was the Employability Skills Profile of the Conference Board of Canada (this list also included information on attitudes and behaviours sought by employers).
  • The ESRP developed ways to talk about the Essential Skills by drawing on these sources and adapting scales from the International Adult Literacy Survey and the Canadian Language Benchmarks.
  • The ESRP focused on occupations requiring a secondary school diploma or less and on-the-job training. These occupations were identified using the National Occupational Classification.

Why do the ESRP?

  • Essential Skills, such as reading, writing, numeracy, oral communication and problem solving, are used throughout the activities of work and daily life.
  • Essential Skills can take many forms, ranging from simple tasks, such as filling in credit card receipts, to more complex tasks, such as writing scientific reports.
  • How can we describe these differences? What do these skills look like in different jobs? How does an individual know if they have the skills they need to do the jobs they want to do? See the Essential Skills Profiles for additional information.

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Date Modified:
2011-08-18